1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning device that removes toner attached onto a surface of a member to be cleaned, such as a charging member that charges a surface of an image carrier while contacting the surface of the image carrier, and relates to an image forming apparatus and a process unit including the cleaning device. The present invention further relates to a method of removing deposit from a surface of a member to be cleaned, and relates to a method of forming an image.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A cleaning device for cleaning a desired member has been widely used in machines and apparatuses in various technical fields. For example, an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or other similar image forming apparatuses, includes a cleaning device that cleans a member stained by toner, for example, by use of a brush roller. Examples of such a member to be cleaned include an image carrier, such as a photoreceptor, and a charging member, such as a charging roller configured to charge the photoreceptor while contacting the surface of the photoreceptor.
Published Japanese patent application No. 7-140763 describes a cleaning device using a brush roller that contacts the surface of a member to be cleaned. The brush roller is rotated by a drive device. A brush of the brush roller and the surface of the member to be cleaned each are moved at a particular linear velocity, so that the brush scrapes off toner attached onto the surface of the member.
This type of the conventional cleaning device using a brush roller often needs a drive device for driving the brush roller. Further, the cleaning device needs a device for regulating an amount of intrusion of a brush of the brush roller into a desired member to be cleaned to control permanent deformation of the brush, that is, so-called yield of the brush. The drive device and the device for regulating the intrusion amount of the brush increase the cost of the cleaning device and make the configuration of the cleaning device complicated.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a cleaning device, an image forming apparatus, and a process unit including the cleaning device that have a low-cost and simple configuration without a drive device for driving a brush roller of the cleaning device and a device for regulating an intrusion amount of a brush of the brush roller, and that controls the permanent deformation of the brush while enhancing cleaning performance of the brush roller.
Further, it is desirable to provide a method of removing deposit from a surface of a member to be cleaned and a method of forming an image while controlling permanent deformation of a brush of a brush roller and while enhancing cleaning performance of the brush roller.